Rupee ends at 1-week high of 60.81 vs USD; logs 1st weekly drop in 7

The Indian rupee on Friday edged up three paise to end at one-week high of 60.81 against the Greenback on sustained dollar selling by exporters and capital inflows.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday edged up three paise to end at one-week high of 60.81 against the Greenback on sustained dollar selling by exporters and capital inflows.

A strong dollar overseas and some hesitancy in local stocks, however, limited the rupee rise, forex dealers said.

On a weekly basis, the local currency, however, fell 16 paise to log its first weekly drop in seven largely due to the 48-paise drop on Monday.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit on Friday resumed better at 60.78 a dollar from previous close of 60.84.

It was trapped in a narrow range of 60.73 and 60.8975 before finishing at 60.81, a rise of three paise or 0.05 percent. In previous four days, rupee rose by 32 paise or 0.52 percent.

on Friday 's closing of 60.81 against US dollar is the highest level since 60.65 on September 12.

The British pound staged a solid rally in early trade on Friday , as Scottish voters had decided to remain in the UK but later cooled off and eased.

The dollar index was quoting sharply higher by 0.34 percent against its major global rivals.

Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, after two days of strong rally, ended lower by 21.79 points or 0.08 percent. FPIs/FIIs bought shares worth USD 25.31 million yesterday, as per Sebi data.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said: "on Friday rupee traded in a thin range and ended near previous close. Rupee is expected to appreciate in coming days tracking gains in local equities.

Trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 60.30 to 61.30."

In forwards market on Friday , premium closed steady to firm on stray payments from banks and corporates.

The benchmark six-month premium payable in February ended at its overnight closing level of 221.5-223.5 paise while far-forward contracts maturing in August, 2015 rose to 479.5-481.5 paise from 475-477 paise.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for dollar at 60.8055 and for the euro at 78.4695.

The rupee remained weak against the pound to 99.54 from Thursday's close of 99.41 while continued its upward march to end at 78.17 per euro from 78.37. It also improved further to 55.89 per 100 Japanese yen from 55.98.

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.